To thaw a frozen heart
by BeautifulWonderland256
Summary: Hoping to gain enough money to pay rent, Lucy convinces Team Natsu to take up a seemingly simple job. Natsu agrees in hopes of getting closer to Gray in order to sort out the strange feelings he has for the now strangely withdrawn ice mage. Unfortunately for them the job ends up being tougher than they thought, leaving both males in a situation they never would have expected.
1. Chapter 1: Jobs for the picking

**Warnings: Violence, BoyXBoy, Rated T for the moment, although it may turn into M as time goes on. OOC May or may not occur, Slightly AU, and that is all I can think about at the moment. **

**This is the first Fairy tail story I have thought of at the moment, although I will also be writing a LokeXGray and LyonXGray one later on. I apologize if a chapter at first appears to be one giant paragraph. I write it spaced out but something Fanfiction doesn't acknowledge that. If that does happen I will get around to fixing it... eventually...**

**Disclaimer: Nope, don't own Fairy Tail. If I did Gray and Lyon would be in it more often.**

When one thinks of a strong guild they are encouraged by stereotypes to imagine a tightly run building with a no nonsense master and crowded with serious mages who all found brawling with one another to be trivial pursuits. Of course one is entitled to believe such a thing, however it just so happened to be incredibly inaccurate, at least it was for Fairy tail; the strongest guild in Fiore. They also managed to harvest the reputation as the most destructive guild known.

Quarrels were all too common amongst the wizards in said guild. In fact it was thought of as weird if a day passed when a fight was not started between two individuals, which then somehow managed to progress into a full out dual between nearly all of the male mages and most of the females in the guild. Of course there were the few individuals, both male and females, that strayed away from such unruly events, while others were all too content with starting them. The two guilty individuals usually being a certain fire mage and his ice rival. Fire and ice, complete opposites. It really was not much of a surprise to find the two males at each others throats, freely spraying various insults and in many causes, bits of magic.

The reason behind their constant brawling was not solely due to the hatred they felt towards one another, no, that was far from the truth. While they were indeed rivals they were also rather close to one another, always willing to help each other out in the event of trouble. Their relationship wavered greatly, but that was what was so wonderful about their arrangement. They always had a sparring partner to relieve stress, yet also had a friend they could count on no matter what the situation.

Yes, close friends yet mortal enemies, that was all that was between them. That thought commonly flowed through the dragon slayers mind whenever he found his thoughts shifting to the Fairy Tail stripper. There certainly could not be anything further between them. But if that was true then why did he sometimes find his face turning red when he saw the blue haired rain women constantly linger around Gray, her affection towards him plain as day? Honestly, he figured the only thing keeping him from growing furious at her actions was Gray's obvious disinterest in the woman. Had he actually played along with Juvia's advances than Natsu would... Well... To be frank the pink haired youth wasn't completely certain what he would do.

He didn't enjoy thinking about it for he didn't understand why he felt that possessive urge over the stripper. However, there was one thing that Natsu found particularity strange about the ice mage. He always seemed as content with staying on the sidelines, hardly ever coming to sit with the others unless he was invited over or they came to him. In some ways it almost seemed as though he was distancing himself from everyone else, a sad look lingering in deep blue eyes.

"Hey, Natsu! Are you even paying attention to me?!" Lucy huffed, her brown eyes narrowing in suspicion as she glared at the fire mage.

"Huh? Oh, sorry Lucy." He smiled, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. He hadn't even realized that he had allowed his thoughts to focus on Gray... Again...

"Ugh, you have the attention span of a child!" Lucy fumed, crossing her arms."What were you thinking about anyway?"

"I bet he was thinking about fish!" Happy chimed in, his thoughts revolving solely around fish, as peruse. Natsu chuckled and grinned. His friend could never seem to eat enough of those water dwellers!

"No, that wasn't it, but it doesn't matter. What were you saying, Lucy?"

Brown eyes peered at him for a few more moments before the blonde shrugged slightly, deciding not to push the issue any further. If something was troubling Natsu and he wanted to talk about it she knew he would.

"Rent is almost due and I need to make money fast! I was hoping that you, Erza, Gray and I could get a high priced job. Sure it will be more difficult, but with the four of us we shouldn't have a problem."

"Hey! There are 5 of us!" Happy complained, but as usual, his complaints fell to deaf ears.

"A job? Oh, yeah! Sounds great!" The dragon slayer's eyes darted from Lucy to Gray, who sat at the bar across from them, seemingly ignoring Juvia as she prattled on about how wonderful he was. "Yo, ice princess, we are going on a job!"

The ice mage's eyebrow twitched in irritation and his gaze quickly shifted from the drink he was stirring to the fire wizard. "Don't call me that, Hot head, but I'm up for a mission." Natsu opened his mouth to counter the others insult when a rather annoying whine rang from beside the Raven haired male.

"Juvia wants to come with Gray-sama!" The water mage squealed, her small hands coming up to hold her cheeks happily before her gaze lowered and she taped her index fingers together, a small blush shading her cheeks. "Then at night Juvia and Gray-sama can cuddle together under the stars and..."

Natsu, having just about enough of the female's prattling, stood up from his seat and shook his head, hiding the irritation he was feeling with a grin. "Sorry, Juvia, but this is just for Team Natsu."

"Team Natsu? Why the hell does the team get to be named after you?!" Gray questioned, slightly thankful that the other cut Juvia off before she could finish her embarrassing fantasy. The girl just couldn't take a hint!

"Because I am the great and powerful Salamander!"Natsu roared pridefully, blowing a puff of fire out to emphasize his words, " Also because I was the one who started this team. You just tagged along after."

Dark blue eyes narrowed but Gray allowed the subject to drop, his attention instead turning to the red head that appeared beside him, a smile on her face. "I'm ready for a mission, it's been a while since our last one."

Lucy, having been looking for a job while the males were busy lashing out at one another, spoke up, parchment in hand. "Great! This one seems easy enough to handle! It says here we just have to stop some hooligans who are ransacking a town every night. The reward is 500,000! Oh... Even split four ways this will last me rent for this month and most of next!"

"Wow, that seems kinda high for just stopping some reckless kids." Gray muttered, ignoring the now whimpering water woman.

"Yeah, that's what I thought too..." Lucy admitted, rubbing her arm. "But it says here that they are skilled wizards that should be approached with caution, so, I guess that is why the price is high?"

Erza smirked and nodded. "That should be shouldn't take more than a day or two, depending on how easily we can find them."

"Then it is decided!" Natsu cheered, throwing his hand up in excitement.

Erza nodded .

"Be packed and ready to leave as soon as possible. We are leaving in an hour."

All four mages nodded in approval before leaving to go to their respected households, the thoughts of the newly accepted job now weighting on their minds. That is, all of them except for a certain fire dragon slayer. He allowed himself a moment to hang behind and watched discreetly as the ice mage left the guild, seemingly deep in thought.

This mission would no doubt last over night and Natsu was determined to get closer to the other male on the team. Why exactly he was determined to do that, he wasn't completely sure. All he knew was that a part of him was fond of Gray, wanting to be something a bit more than rivals and friends. That feeling had been haunting him ever sense they left Galuna Island a few weeks prior and he hoped that this little mission would allow him to discover just what these new feelings were.


	2. Chapter 2: Trains and dragon slayers

An hour later Lucy, Gray and Natsu were all waiting at the train station, not daring to be even a moment late in fear of the red haired woman's wrath. Even Natsu managed to arrive 15 minutes ahead of the appointed time, a large smile on his face as he bounded up to his friends. How the pink haired mage managed to always remain so positively happy and upbeat was beyond Gray.  
"Oh good you all are here. I was sure that I was going to have to punish at least one of you for being late." A familiar authoritative voice chided playfully as Erza stepped up to stand in front of her teammates, a smirk on her flawless face. "The train could be here shortly."  
A soft groan erupted from the dragon slayer at her words. "Ugh… Why can't we just walk? I hate these stupid vehicles."  
"Oh no, Natsu. The job is 100 miles away from here and there is no way I am walking. You will just have to put up with it." She scolded, crossing her arms. Geez, what was with the Fairy Tail women and ordering the men around..?  
Nevertheless the fire mage, sensing the blondes set statement, allowed the subject to drop, instead he took to mumbling under his breath.  
"Oh, don't tell me that the 'Great Salamander' can be taken down by a simple train." Gray smirked, enjoying rallying the dragon slayer up. It was the only time that that irritatingly persistent smile finally disappeared.  
"Of course not, perverted stripper! Happy, why can't you just fly me there?!"  
"That is so far away, Natsu! You are so cruel to expect me to do that!" The blue cat complained from his position on the pink haired teen's shoulder.  
"Enough bickering, boys. The trains here." Erza instructed before turning her gaze to focus on Natsu. "As for you, I'll take care of this problem before it even has time to start."  
Before anyone could question what Titania meant precisely an armored fist met the pink haired wizard's stomach, effectively knocking him out. Managing to catch the boy before he fell, the scarlet haired female tossed him to a surprised Gray.  
"W-Why the hell are you giving him to me?!" Gray winced, just barely catching the fire mage before he brought them both crashing to the ground.  
"You are in charge of bringing him into the train. This way his motion sickness won't be a problem right away."  
"That makes sense and all, but why do I have to watch the idiot?!"  
Erza's eyes narrowed as she stepped closer to the ice mage, bringing her hands to her hips.  
"Do you have a problem with my orders?"  
"N-no! Of course not!" The ice mage stuttered, not wanting to be the object of the requipping mage's anger.  
"That's what I thought. Now take him inside. Lucy will help me bring my luggage up."  
"I will what?!"  
Without another word Gray swiftly climbed onto the train, hearing the blonde's complaints as she was left to help bring the excessive amount of luggage onto the train.  
It didn't take long for the maker magic wizard to find an empty section for him and his friends to sit. Upon entering the little room the stripper tossed the passed out man onto the nearest seat before taking the one opposite him, crossing his arms as he glared at the damn hothead in front of him. Honestly, his motion sickness was a complete nuisance. He couldn't even count how many times a bad situation could have been avoided had the idiot not gotten sick from even the slightest movement of the ground he was standing on.  
"Damn flame, why do you always have to make everything so difficult?" Gray's cool voice mumbled as dark blue eyes peered down at the fire mage's sleeping face. He had to admit that it was pleasant to not see the younger boy's face pained at the mere fact that he was stuck in a train. For once it was peaceful, almost as though he was dreaming something that he favored. He could almost say that his expression was cute.  
Cute…  
The raven's face immediately heated and he whipped his head around to stare out the window, a frown possessing his lips as he realized what he had just thought. Cute? Natsu was many things, arrogant, childish, stubborn, persistent, cocky, an idiot, but he certainly couldn't be cute. No, Gray Fullbuster certainly did not think of his rival as cute, or at the very least that was what he kept telling himself.  
Gray was (thankfully) pulled from his train of thought as Erza and Lucy walked into their compartment. The celestial wizard looked drained as she pushed Natsu over and plopped down beside him, sighing in relief.  
"So… Many… boxes!" She complained.  
A small smile rose to the scarlet's face as she sat beside Gray, watching out the window as the train finally pulled out of the station, thus signaling the beginning of their journey.  
Light, meaningless chatter was exchanged between Erza, Lucy and Happy as the trip progressed I an attempt to make time go by swifter. Not particularly in the mood to fraternize, Gray leaned against the window, his vision trained on the scenery flying by.  
Winter was beginning to claim Fiore, the whether already beginning to become a bit nippy, much to Gray's joy. The feeling of a cold breeze against his cold skin was always a comfort to the ice mage. It made him feel even closer to his element, thus making him even stronger.  
Although unfortunately for Gray, this time the lowering temperature did nothing to improve his secretly dull mood. The events at Galuna Island still weighted heavily on his mind. His fight with Lyon, the moon mist that melted the ice that contained the evil demon Deloira and the mix of emotions that plagued him as he was forced to recall all the horrid memories that he had spent the last 8 years attempting to forget.  
But there was also something else that managed to set him on edge. What precisely it was, he was not certain. He felt as though there was something he was supposed to recall, something that was important… Perhaps it was from his childhood…? Prior to Deliora's attack on his beloved village he remembered nothing. It was only when he tried to think about his early childhood that he received a deep foreboding feeling.  
"Gray? Are you alright?"  
The ice mage glanced away from the window to be met with the concerned faces of his friends, despite the still passed out Natsu, that is.  
"Yeah, I'm fine. The view is pretty, is all." He lied, forcing a small smile. One that did not reach his eyes, his friends noticed.  
Lucy smiled at that and nodded happily as she began prattling on about how the trees always looked so beautiful during the early winter and how the falling snow was always so romantic.  
The raven suppressed a small sigh as he forced himself to forget about the daunting feeling he was experiencing and allowed himself to be pulled into the conversation his comrades were holding. If what he was trying to remember was indeed as important as he felt it was he would recall it eventually. Or so he hoped.

**Heh, sorry for the lack of fluff so far. I just want to establish the situation and plotline before continuing on with the yaoi. Oh, and for everyone who is wondering, this fanfiction will have protective Natsu for the sole reason that I think it is incredibly adorable. There will be other pairings as well that I have yet to decide on. Tell me what pairings you want to see in this story and I'll see if I can work it in ^.^.**


	3. Chapter 3: Aggravation and arrival

The train ride was fairly long in itself, although with the added bonus of a newly awoken fire mage it made the trip seem as though it took years rather than several hours.  
Unfortunately for the blonde, raven and red head, the dragon slayer woke up halfway through the journey and reacted incredibly poorly, as peruse. He insisted on moaning and complaining about the nonstop movement of the train. Needless to say, he managed to grate dangerously on everyone's nerves.  
It even got to the point of which Lucy insisted on Gray switching spots with her; claiming that she had had enough of his squirming. At first he had outright refused, not wanting the damned pink headed wimp to throw up on him, although with a bit of persuasion- otherwise known as Erza's threats- he solemnly agreed.  
That was how the irked ice mage came to be, sitting with the fire mage curled up slightly in his lap who seemed to be in an ignorant and deep slumber.  
"Aw, I've never seen him so relaxed on a train ride." Lucy cooed, having been highly amused when the car sick Natsu originally slumped over and landed on Gray. It was rather surprising to everyone when the dragon slayer remained as he was, looking slightly healthier as he subconsciously curled up closer to his rival before ultimately drifting into a nausea induced rest. "Maybe your cold skin is helping reduce his sickness?"  
Gray snickered and glanced down his sick rival, a part of him wondering why he even allowed the other to rest in his lap. He supposed the reason behind it being that if this was the only way to get the bastard to shut the hell up then he would somewhat happily oblige. However, the moment the flame brain threw up on him would be the moment he was going out the train window.  
"Whatever, at least he finally shut up." He mumbled, his mouth turning into a grim line as he shifted his gaze to focus on the window. The ice mage wasn't quite sure why, but recently he had found his mind drifting to the pinkette quite often. More so than he deemed fit for a rival. He even dared to consider the dragon slayer cute while he slept.  
Erza nodded in agreement as she gazed at the boys, her face blank but her eyes showing her mischievous thoughts.  
"So it's settled then?"  
Both the blonde and the raven glanced at the requip mage, confused by her words.  
"Eh?"  
Erza smiled before waving her hand in the creator magic wizard's direction.  
"You are now in charge of Natsu when it comes to transportation. He reacts better with you than he does with Lucy or me."  
Dark blue eyes widened and he blinked before stuttering,  
"W-what? No! It's just a coincidence, is all. There's no way this fire breath feels more comfortable around me! All we ever do is fight!"  
The red haired female shrugged, seemingly uncaring as to the known facts.  
"Still, I haven't seen him this calm on a train ride since Wendy's spells stopped having an effect on him. This is your task, except of course if you are denying my order?" Her red eyes narrowed as they settled mercilessly on the spluttering ice make mage.  
"N-no! Of course not!"  
"Good, then it is set."  
Gray opened his mouth to retort to Titania's decree, but found it better not to anger the witch. After all, he wanted to get to the job location healthy and unharmed. He figured that if he continued his talking back he would arrive with none of those desired qualifications.  
Lucy smiled at the scene of her two boys together, Natsu's head was in Gray's lap with his arm wrapped around the embarrassed male's thigh in an almost protective manner. Could it be that her pink haired friend actually enjoyed being the only one so close to the stripper?  
Lucy shook her head before settling her gaze back on the window. Although they looked like a cute couple and would no doubt make a precious pairing, she knew better than to state it aloud. Instead she brushed it aside and resumed her nonchalant conversation with the queen of the fairies. She would just have to watch Natsu and see for herself whether or not her suspicions were correct.  
Finally the Fairy Tail mages arrived at their desired destination. As soon as they were allowed to exit what Natsu considered a moving metal deathtrap of pain, Erza and a disgruntled Lucy went to gather the S class mage's large stack of luggage while Gray and Happy gathered their small amount of belongings. The blue cat grabbed Natsu's stuff as well while the ice mage picked up the irritating wizard himself, dragging him as he happily exited the train.  
A small smile graced the male's lips as he felt a cold breeze sweep across his pale face, loving that winter was finally creeping over Mongolia once again. After all, he endured the cold much better than he did the heat.

The train station was relatively crowded and the sun was already beginning to disappear beyond the horizon, a lovely collection of pink, yellow and orange shadings decorating the once pale blue sky.  
"Ugh… Are we off that thing yet…?" Natsu groaned pitifully as he finally peeked a green eye open, staring intently at his rival.  
"Yeah, now carry your own weight, flame brain. I'm tired of taking care of your pathetic ass."  
Without any more warning the dark blue haired male dropped his comrade unceremoniously onto the ground, ignoring the groan of complaint that erupted from the fire mage.  
"Damn, ice block. I'll kick your ass for that."  
Gray scoffed softly and stuffed his hands in his coat pockets as he watched Natsu slowly pull himself onto his knees, steadily regaining the strength that his motion sickness stole from him.  
"You should be thanking me, dimwit, for not throwing you out the window for lying in my lap on the way here."  
His words caused a slight blush to creep onto the dragon slayers cheeks.  
"As if! You should just be thankful that I gave you the privilege of being my pillow, snow cone!"  
"Privilege?! You think I should be thankful for that?!"  
"Of course!"  
"Why you!"  
Just as Gray was about to punch the logic back into Natsu's puny brain he was stopped by a familiar and intimidating presence standing behind him.  
"Hey Erza are you…"  
Gray stilled in the middle of turning around, his eyes widening in shock at the person he found. It certainly was not the woman he believed it to be.  
"Lyon? What are you doing here?"


	4. Chapter 4: Useless brawls

"Hello to you too, Gray. My, your manners really never seem to improve, do they? You are still that thick headed boy you were back when we were kids." A white haired male teased with an amused glint in his onyx eyes.  
"I have manners!" The raven fumed, his irritation towards his fellow pupil obvious. "You are the one that doesn't. You never answered my question."  
Lyon smirked slightly, enjoying the others reaction before he glanced over at the fire mage, now surprised to find him here as well. For some reason the dragon slayer was seemingly always near Gray. The cold emperor wasn't quite sure how he felt about that fact.  
"I'm here on a mission."  
"A mission?" Gray repeated, his face neutral while his eyes twinkled with surprise.  
"Yes, a mission. My team and I decided to join a guild," Seeing the smirk slowly growing on the raven's face Lyon quickly added, "And no, I did not join a silly guild due to your recommendation. We merely joined becausewe required work and that was the easiest way to go about it."  
The Fairy Tail stripper grit his teeth in annoyance and was about to send a remark back when his eyes drifted from the masculine structured face of the silver haired male down to his bare chest. He couldn't help but wonder where the other's shirt went, however a particularly cold breeze pulled him to the realization that he had also lost his as well. He was about to glance around the immediate area in search of his pesky clothing when a tattoo on his ice rival's chest caught his attention. There, etched on the pale right pectoral of Lyon Bastia was a guild tattoo. If memory served, that was the distinctive marking that labeled him as being a member of the Lamia Scale guild. Gray couldn't help but wonder why the cold emperor had chosen his guild mark in the same exact spot as the raven.  
"Oh, you guys are going on a mission?" Natsu cut in, the strength that had been drained from him during the ride returning tenfold. For a moment Gray wondered whether he liked the quiet side of him better. "What mission is that?"  
The silver haired male sent the slayer a bored look.  
"We are here to stop a group that is ransacking a town and kidnapping its members every night. I assume your team is here as the second team needed?"  
"Second team…? What do you mean?" The dark blue haired boy asked.  
"Oh, surely you read the job request thoroughly this time, Gray. Or is this just a repeat from Galuna island? Really, you and your team are too careless. Then again, that it a trait you have always had."  
Blue eyes narrowed in slight irritation at the others snide comments.  
"Lucy chose the mission, not me."  
Almost as though the blonde was aware she was being spoken about, her and Erza walked up to the fire and ice mage, her body slouching as she was no doubt tired from unloading that entire luggage.  
"Yo, Lucy, do you know anything about the job needing two teams?" Gray called, sending his fellow ice mage a slight glare before settling it on the celestial spirit mage.  
"Two teams….?" She repeated, looking at him as though he was speaking another language, that is, until something dawned on her. "Oh, that must have been what the missing part of that paper said."  
"The missing part?" Erza asked, stepping up to stand beside the blonde as she placed her hands on her armored hips, her eyebrows raised in a silent question.  
"Yeah, the paper that had the information concerning the mission looked as though a piece of the bottom was torn off during transport. I saw it and thought that nothing had been lost by its absence. Sorry…"  
"Oh well!" A cheerful Natsu smiled before pulling his bags onto his back. "We are wasting time here talking. Let's hurry up; I don't want to miss a fight because of you two strippers!"  
Ignoring the glares his retreating back received from the two ice mages, he happily started forward, leaving the train station with Happy as his comrades no doubt followed behind.  
A rather awkward silence dwindled between the groups of eight, none knowing quite what to say to their once rivals but now friends. The fire mage led the two teams with Lyon and Gray a few paces behind him, a comfortable silence between the two. Even after all these years, they couldn't help but feel the similar sense of ease that they experienced when they were mere pupils being trained by their master.  
Lyon subtly snuck glances at the dark blue haired male, a series of different thoughts and emotions passing through him. He certainly had not expected to see these four, of all people, here. But of course, he was just that unlucky. Or maybe he was lucky. They all acted as through the events on Galuna had never transpired, instead it felt as though his relationship with Gray had returned to the way it was prior to Ur's death.  
Although of course many things have changed both physically and mentally. Gray had grown into a rather attractive young man and that horrid aura of darkness that had captivated him for the longest time had all but dispersed. He truly seemed like a new man. It was because of that that Lyon had originally decided on joining Lamia Scale. He figured that if anything could help him live down his past than it would be a guild.  
Gray sighed slightly under his breath, just barely managing to stop himself from stripping from the shirt that he had lost and then found at the train station. Thus far he had already lost too many articles of clothing from his annoying habit and he found it best to ensure he lost a two shirt minimum throughout this mission.  
Suddenly, the fire mage stopped, his posture straightening as he slipped his hands behind his head, tan fingers caressing soft pink locks as he turned around to look at the mages trailing behind him.  
"So… Where are we going?"  
Everyone face palmed.  
"Oy, flamebrain, do you mean to tell us that we have following you all this way and you don't even know where you are going?!" Gray grumbled, his fist clenching at his side. It was taking all his self-control not that bop that idiot on the head.  
"It's not my fault that you insist on following me and my awesomeness wherever I go." Natsu smirked, all too aware of the anger growing within his rival.  
"You wanna go, squinty eyes?!"  
"Come at me, droopy eyes!"  
Within a moment the last of Gray's self-control snapped as he lunged towards the pinkette, his fist aimed at the other's face meeting air as the dragon slayer dodged before sending a kick at the ice mage in return. The kick was easily evaded and it wasn't long before the two Fairy Tail rivals began a full out brawl, sparks of magic escaping the two.  
Lucy groaned at her friend's childish behavior and regrouped with the remaining, non-fighting members in an attempt to pinpoint where exactly they were at the moment. With any luck the fire and ice mages would knock one another out during their little fight. Of course it would prove to be a nuisance to have to carry them, but that was after all a small price to pay for silence.  
After a few moments of conversation, the mages managed to roughly determine their location. Luckily the fire mage had not led them too far off course. If their calculations were correct they were about a 10 minute walk from the requester's house. With any luck they would be able to arrive before the horizon was completely blanketed by darkness.  
The exasperated blonde glanced at Natsu and Gray before turning to Erza.  
"Can you stop them now? We don't need them to destroy any property so soon…"  
A smirk crossed the red head's face at the request and she opened her mouth to respond when instead a gruff male's voice beat her to it.  
"Leave it to me."  
The celestial mage blinked at the silver haired male in slight surprise, but made no quarrel with the male who stood as Gray's former fellow student. It didn't matter to her who ended the boy's brawl so long as it was ceased.  
"Hey idiots, come on. If you don't stop fighting I'll freeze both of you solid."  
The pinkette just managed a stealthy dodge from Gray's punch before he looked at the cold emperor, a cheeky grin on his face.  
"Come make us, albino."  
Lyon, never really being one for holding back his irritation, felt his patience with the dragon slayer slip. It truly was no wonder his fellow pupil was always at his throat. The boy was boisterous and cocky, if anything Lyon wondered how Gray managed to put up with him in the first place.  
"Do you have a death wish, Salamander?" He ground out, his eyes narrowing as he watched Gray land a kick to the fire mage's side, only to receive a punch in the gut in return. Low sounds of pain escaped both males.  
"As if a Popsicle like you could ever inflict pain to me."  
"I have no problem dragging you to the employer's residence unconscious."  
Reaching the end of his already short patience, the cold emperor launched towards the quarreling males, his attack aimed towards the nearest male, which just so happened to be the younger ice mage.  
Just as Lyon's attack was about to collide with the preoccupied raven, he felt himself being thrown back only to collide roughly with the paved road.  
Glancing up, the silver haired male was surprised to find the dragon slayer standing protectively in front of Gray, his fist positioned as though he had just punched something, or rather, someone. A protective glint twinkled in emerald eyes as Natsu glared at the silverette.  
However, the seemingly strange behavior of the pinkette disappeared as soon as it came, his eyes returning back to normal as he blinked several times, glancing between Lyon and Gray in obvious shock. It seemed as though even he himself was unaware of what had overcome him.  
The only thing Lyon knew for certain from the dragon slayer's reaction was that a part of him reacted protectively when he sensed that the raven was in potential danger from an unknown force. He made a mental note to question the salamander about it later on.  
Natsu, oblivious to the questioning gazes he was receiving, was looking from one ice mage to the other, utter confusion clouding his features. What was that? He had been waiting for Gray to counter his last attack, when suddenly he sensed another force coming towards them, or more specifically, his rival. For some reason the mere thought of someone other than himself getting near the dark blue haired male and potentially hurting him caused the fire mage's blood to boil.  
Before he knew it the sole desire to keep the younger ice mage safe clouded his mind and he had stopped the unknown force, which turned out to be Lyon.  
Aware of the confused stare he was receiving from Gray, Natsu felt the desire to fight flush away from him; instead he made his way back to the group, acting as though nothing had happened.  
Although of course the mages who witnessed his rather strange reaction refused to just brush it aside. Instead the select three who had witnessed it kept their gazes on the fire mage. Natsu had never protected Gray like that before during a harmless brawl. If anything the salamander was one of the only ones that managed to inflict any damage onto him. So the thought that he didn't want the stripper to get hurt was out of the question, or so Lucy thought.  
Wordlessly, the mages regrouped and made their way to the desired location, pushing their previous questions aside as they prepared themselves for the mission that was to come.

**There we are ^.^ . There should also be another chapter up either today or tomorrow, seeing as I have recently gained inspiration for this story. Thank you everyone for reviewing. Honestly its those reviews that encourage me to update XD **

**As for whether this is an Uke Natsu or Uke Gray story, it will be Uke Gray if I can ever muster up the courage to try to write lemon :P. But, even though I view Gray as the Uke it shall not taint his personality in the slightest. I try to ensure all characters remain as they should, despite their positions. **

**Thank you for reading and please review~**


	5. Chapter 5: Stranger danger

**Warnings: Minor violence, slight AU, cursing, hopefully not too much OOC and fighting scenes**.

"Oh, thank goodness you are here!" The village elder smiled, his fake teeth shining slightly in the candlelit house. It seemed as though this particular area had been experiencing black outs rather often. "Hopefully this issue will finally be resolved!"  
Erza nodded slightly as she studied the old yet tall male. His skin was wrinkled and black bags stood out on his pale face, even with the dim lighting present. The poor old man appeared to be horribly worried and obviously sleep deprived. Grey hair adorned the back of his head, leaving the front bare and freckled. A brown, faded cloak fell from his hunched shoulders as he leaned heavily on his wooden cane. To say this man looked to be in poor health was an understatement.  
"Now," The Scarlet began, her gaze shifting from the pathetic state of the elder to land on the job request, "Please fully explain the circumstances at hand so that we may find the best way to properly help."  
"Yes, of course. Well you see, several months ago a group of cloaked figures came through our village before disappearing in the surrounding woods. We attempted to warn them against it, seeing as the woods are believed to be cursed; however they wouldn't pay us any heed. Afterwards we thought nothing further of the strange individuals, that is until a few days later a few of the village's wizards disappeared. We had scoured everywhere with not the slightest sign as to where they went." The male's expression fell and his fist clenched the wooden cane even tighter, "After that everything just got worse. Night after night more mages disappeared. It got to the point in which my people refused to practice the magic they so cherished in fear that they would be the next ones to get taken. Who it is that is kidnapping the mages, no one knows. They just disappear in the middle of the night. That is why once night falls no one dares step outside. This village is slowly crumbling…"  
"I see…"Yuka muttered, tapping his chin with his index finger in thought.  
Kasei, the village elder, nodded glumly and sighed as he glanced out the window at the deserted and darkened streets.  
"These troubling individuals ransack our village every night, kidnapping any mages who find themselves unfortunate enough to be out once the sun sets. I ask that you stop these attacks so that my people may live peacefully and without fear once again."  
"Of course," Natsu smiled in between bites of the food that the employer had graciously laid out for the visiting mages, "We will beat them up no sweat."  
"That is such a relief to hear, but I warn you, they are strong and no doubt plentiful. They even managed to take the strongest wizard in the village. That is why I spilt the job into two separate requests." The old man assured.  
"Thank you." The requip mage offered him a soft smile, "That is very generous of you."  
Kasei shook his head, "No, not at all. I am willing to pay whatever it takes to help this village return to its former peaceful state."  
"Enough talk! What are we waiting for? Let's go and kick some bad guy butt!" The dragon slayer cheered, standing up from the table suddenly, an excited grin plastered on his face.  
"Aye sir!" Happy chorused in between bites of his fish.  
Everyone gawked at the dragon slayers behavior before they joined together to conduct a plan to catch the culprits. If everything went as planned they would have the enemies in their custody by the first hint of the morning sun.

NGNGNGNGNNGNGGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGN

Gray sighed softly as he scanned the dark streets surrounding him, wondering how exactly he was the one that got stuck with this job. The gods must hate him, or at least that was the conclusion that the ice mage came up with as he continued his trek down the deserted streets.  
At the moment it was around three in the morning and he was fighting yet another bout of exhaustion. He just hoped that they would finish this mission soon so that he could finally get some sleep.  
The plan itself was rather simple, yet should do the trick. Two mages were selected to be used as bait. One being Sherry and the other being Gray. Both mages were chosen due to what Natsu called their 'sex appeal'. Sherry was used in case the captors favored females and Gray in case they were females or targeted strong looking males. He surely was going to beat the hell out of that dim wit after this.  
His eyes lazily trailed around him as he crossed his arms and sighed, vaguely aware of the cold chest touching his forearms. When did he lose his shirt? He could have sworn that he had it on a moment ago…  
Letting out another exasperated sigh the younger ice mage retraced his steps, studying the ground in search of his white coat. So much for not losing many articles of clothing throughout this mission, well, at least that was the only one he had lost…. So far…  
The raven was vaguely aware of three sets of eyes on him, although they were of no concern, seeing as he knew all too well who was watching him. Natsu, Erza and Lucy had hidden within a nearby building, watching him carefully for any sign of danger while Yuka, Lyon and Toby went off with Sherry to the other side of the Village.  
That left Gray to wander aimlessly around, acting as though he was a mere villager who found himself out too late. A part of the stripper wondered if with his poor luck they wouldn't even bother showing up. Hopefully Sherry was having more luck than he was…  
"Ah, here it is…" The Fairy Tail stripper murmured, finally locating his lost article of clothing. "Of course it just had to land in a puddle…" The once white coat was sopping wet with sections of mud coating it. Great, just great….  
"My, my, what do we have here?" A smooth voice snickered, causing Gray to swiftly turn away from his dripping shirt to see who spoke.  
"Who's there?" He demanded, the hair on the back of his neck prickling as he was met with only darkness.  
"Looks like pretty boy here is out past his curfew, tch,tch." Another voice chided, this time coming from his right.  
"Who's there?!" The raven demanded, the grip on his shirt tightening as he positioned himself defensively, prepared to fight back if the need arose.  
"Oh, do forgive our rudeness." The first voice replied with an amused tone.  
Gray merely tensed as two figures appeared from the shadows in front of him. Two males loomed before him, black robes clothing both their bodies as they walked closer to him, stopping with just a few feet between them. The taller of the two had dark green spiky hair and the other was slighter smaller with short orange, straight hair. Both had tan skin and what appeared to be purple eyes.  
"Hm, not bad." The green haired male hummed, seizing Gray up, "You wouldn't happen to be a mage, would ya, Pretty boy?"  
Gray frowned at the nickname the taller of the two referred to him as and studied the two slightly before tilting his chin up to them in defiance.  
"What's it to ya?"  
"Fiesty too, eh? I'm not exactly what you would call patient."  
"Like I care."  
"Hey, Tremo, look!" The orange haired stranger cut in, pointing to the Fairy Tail tattoo that could just barely be seen behind the shirt dangling from the ice mage's pale shoulder, "Isn't that one em guild tattoos? From Fairy tail too! He must be strong."  
"I think you are right, Jeice." Tremo smirked, his gaze dropping from Gray's face to his chest, causing the raven to swiftly pull his coat so it was covering his guild insignia. Crap, he forgot about that!  
"What's a mage from Magnolia doing in a small Village like this?" The taller male inquired, the smirk on his tan face merely widening at the momentary look of irritation on the boy's face. The lone male in the streets looked to be just a few years younger than the strangers; a mere teen.  
"That is my business and mine alone."  
Tremo sighed in mock exasperation.  
"Not one for talking, eh? Well, no matter. Now, you can either come with us willingly or we can beat the crap out of ya and then drag you back, so which will it be?"  
Gray blinked, not quite expecting that…  
"Eh…?"  
"What kind of magic do you practice anyway?" Jeice inquired, seemingly ignoring that fact that the dark blue haired male had just asked him a question.  
"Answer my questions and I might just answer yours."  
The ice mage's irritation was reaching his peak as he attempted to gain information from these two males. There was no longer a doubt in his mind that these individuals were the ones responsible for the kidnappings of the mages. After all, what other reason did they have for being so interested in him and his abilities?  
"You aren't really in a position to talk now are ya?" Tremo drawled, tilting his head to the side in amusement. "Meh, enough chit chat, we'll find out his type of wizardry later."  
Before anyone could respond the taller male sped towards Gray, his fist connecting with the wall behind the raven as he just managed to dodge the sudden attack. Within moments the wall shook before crumbling down, the punch too strong for the infrastructure to withstand. Damn, the elder wasn't kidding. These were definitely not normal pushover enemies.  
"Hey, not bad you must be strong if you could dodge that."  
"Hmph." Tossing his coat aside, Gray brought his hands together in the customary ice make position. He was no longer in the mood to continue this petty conversation.  
"Ice make: Lance!"  
Within seconds numerous ice beams shaped like lances shot from the stripper's hands and soared straight towards the two opposing mage's, who just managed to evade it. Finally, it had been a while since Gray had found himself facing a tough opponent on a regular guild mission.  
"You're an ice mage?" An excited expression appeared on both of the purple eyed male's faces at this sudden realization. "Perfect! And here we thought we would have to journey all the way to the northern continent to try to find one of you. That magic is becoming rarer and rarer ya know."  
"What on earth are you talking about?"  
Tremo gave him a cheeky grin and was about to respond when suddenly a series of flames erupted before them, causing the two black clothed mages to leap back in surprise, their gazes turning to see three more wizards joining them.  
"Looks like Ice boy here has friends." Tremo mused, his hand smoothing back his green hair as he watched the two females and one male join their friend, "It's too bad we don't need any more magic energy or else they would have really helped. The last key needed is ice make magic and we surely can't let this chance pass by."  
With yet another grin both strangers launched themselves at the Fairy Tail mages.  
Natsu grinned back at the enemies as the thrill of a fight rushed into him. Beside him Erza shifted into her heavens wheel armor whilst Lucy brought one of her keys out to the ready. It seemed as though this mission would be almost too easy after all, however the male's words did bring numerous questions to all of the wizards. What did they mean they had all the energy they needed except for ice magic energy?  
"Ah yeah, I got a fire in my belly now! I don't know what you are talking about, but there's no way you are hurting any of my friends!" Natsu roared, his voice lowering to an inaudible whisper as he added one more part to his sentence. "Especially not Gray…"  
**Yay, another chapter within the same day~ Well, the fluff will come in here…. Sometime… Just getting the plot flowing at the moment, but I promise there will be more Natsu and Gray interaction soon. Until then, enjoy this thing that just randomly came to mind ^.^**


	6. Chapter 6: Bad omens

**Warnings: Violence, cursing, slight (maybe) OOC and Yaoi.**

Pale fingers drummed tunelessly against the plate glass window, ice slowly covering every place his skin touched. Boredom soared within the albino and his ministrations did nothing to assist his case.

Currently Lyon, Toby and Yuka were all hidden within a villager's house, sitting near the window located in the living room. Their sights were all trained on the area immediately outside where Sherry stood, mindlessly fiddling with her pink hair as she leisurely paced about. An anxious expression crossed her face as she glanced around the darkness uncertainly. The only light that pierced the cold night air was the half moon, however even that provided meager brightness, seeing as dark clouds threatened to completely diminish it at any moment.

"I hope the others are having better luck. This is so boring!" Toby complained, leaning back in his wooden chair, causing it to creak and rock dangerously on its hind legs.

Thus far they had kept this surveillance up for hours without the slightest sign of the enemies. Needless to say that caused all of them to grow rather impatient.

"If you aren't careful you are going to fall." Yuka reprimanded, glancing away from the window to shake his head disapprovingly at his comrade.

"I know what I'm doing!" With a huff the dog like male leaned further back against his chair. None were surprised when the ancient seat finally creaked its annoyance and gave way, crashing onto the floor with a panicking Lamia Scale mage following closely behind.

"Okay… Let's pretend that didn't happen…" Said mage whimpered, siting up as he rubbed his abused back and head gently.

The large eyebrowed male rolled his eyes before averting his gaze back to the pink haired wizard outside. Silence lingered between the three for several more moments before this time it was the leader of them that dared disrupt the night's blissful silence.

"This is pointless. It's been hours and we haven't managed the slightest progression. The plan in itself is unproductive." Onyx eyes narrowed as the ice tainting the window began to crack, showing the irritation coursing through the silver haired male, "Perhaps we may need to rethink our course of action."

"Be the situation as it may, I see no other way to go about capturing the delinquents. Our plan, however dull and tedious, is the only accurate way to ensure that we catch the enemy by surprise, Cold emperor." The blue haired male pointed out, his intelligence proving to be of use.

After all, it had been mainly Lucy and Yuka that had planned their operation, with the added input of the others when needed, of course. However, they were more brute strength than the masterminds.

Lyon himself had no quarrel with such a title. He was intelligent, as were the other members of their makeshift group, but they had the tendency to act rather brash, so that left it to the more level headed of the group to craft a manageable course of action.

So far the ice mage doubted their self proclaimed unbeatable intelligence. While he did trust Yuka he was uncertain of the blonde. To be quite honest he wasn't even certain whether or not he trusted Gray. While once they were friends it was only weeks ago that he had attempted to kill the raven and likewise with the Fairy tail mage. Although for him it was only to save his friends, a completely pure reason compared to his own tainted, vengeful reasoning.

"Do not call me that. You are quite aware that I shed that title when we left Galuna island. As for your plan, very well. Although, if by the first sign of sunlight we make no progress I will take it into my own hands to ensure this mission is completed."

Knowing better than to argue with the ice mage, Toby and Yuka nodded before allowing silence to drape over them once more, their thoughts not their own company.

As he allowed his mind to wander a part of him wondered how his fellow pupil and friends were getting along. For them Gray was the chosen bait, much to the dark blue haired male's original discontent. What made matters even more amusing, yet irritating at the same time was the fire dragon slayers initial comment when he was explaining why he was the best male for the job.

_"Sex appeal!"_

_Eight pairs of eyes turned to look at the dragon slayer, confusion apparent in everyone's expressions._

_"Now what the hell are you going on about, fire brain?" Gray asked, leaning back against his chair as he glared at his rival, his bare back enjoying the comfortable cushion. He had long since lost and then found his shirt, although he found no reason to put it back on at the moment._

_"We can lure them in with sex appeal!" Natsu repeated, his excitement seemingly overpowering his urge to counter the ice mage's insult._

_ "That may just work!" Erza smiled before slamming one fist into the other, "One male and one female, just to be on the safe side."_

_"Alright…" The raven sighed, playing along with the bizarre idea, "Then who will be the bait?"_

_"I would say Lucy, but it never works when its her…" Happy muttered, sending a smirk at the now seething celestial mage._

_"What the hell is that supposed to mean, cat?!" The blonde bellowed, her hands shaking with the urge to strangle the rude feline._

_Ignoring the argument between the two mages, the dragon slayer tapped his chin, seemingly considering that for a few moments, _

_"Well… Happy has a point about Lucy…" Pausing a moment to wince at the light punch in the side he received from the pissed off female, he continued, "That leaves either Sherry or Erza…"_

_"I'll gladly volunteer if it will help!" The requip wizard announced._

_"Well, that's great and all Erza, but we don't want to scare them away…" Gray sweatdropped, before turning to look at the pink haired girl beside Lyon, "I guess that leaves you."_

_Sherry hesitated a moment before smiling slightly and nodding, her vision trained on the white haired male as she spoke, "Alright, I'll do it for Love!"_

_"Great! Then that just leaves the guys!" The pinkette immediately glanced at his rival, a smirk playing at his lips._

_"What the hell are you looking at, hot head?"_

_"The male bait, of course, ice princess."_

_"Like hell! This is no way I am going to do that! Why don't you, squinty eyes!?"_

_"Aw, is the snow queen scared? "_

_"I'm not scared!Are you trying to start something, sulfur breath?!"_

_"Bring it, droopy eyes!"_

_"Boys… Stop fighting." Erza warned, immediately resulting in the quarreling males to quiet down. After sending them both a cold glare, she continued, "However, Natsu does have a point, Gray. Your laid back personality and physical attributes should work nicely."_

_"W-Why the hell can't Natsu be the bait instead?!"_

_"Because he would act too rash." She explained, crossing her arms._

_"Then why not Lyon, Toby or Yuka?!"_

_"Oh, don't tell me, you really scared, aren't you Gray?" The silver haired male mused, glancing from the smirking pinkette to the flustered raven._

_"Of course I'm not, bastard!"_

_"Good, then it's settled. Gray and Sherry will be the bait!" _

_"WHAT?!"_

Throughout the entire exchange the elder ice mage couldn't help but notice that the dragon slayer hadn't looked away from Gray, regardless of who was speaking. He found it rather strange…

Suddenly the silver haired male was ripped from his train of thoughts at the sound of an explosion. Glancing back out the window, Lyon determined the area it originated from to be the other side of the village, the very place where the Fairy Tail group was stationed.

Of course it was them that managed to find the enemies, after all, Fairy Tail was known for always managing to find trouble. For once that trait actually managed to assist them.

"Finally, something interesting." He mused before leaving the house and racing with his team to the sight of the battle.

NGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNG

Gray grit his teeth as he jumped back, just narrowly dodging a rather well placed black beam. Dust erupted into the air as the attack instead met the ground, causing the dirt and debree to blanket the air in a thick cloud.

"Come on, ice boy, show me some more of that special ice magic of yours, or are you just able to dodge?" Jeice cooed, stepping out from the slowly dispersing cloud, an amused smirk playing on his lips.

"I can do much more than dodge!" He growled, pulling his hands together in the customary ice make position, "You asked for it, bastard! Ice make: Ice Impact!"

Immediately a large hammer appeared over the orange haired male, hovering for a mere moment before it slammed down to the ground, missing the enemy by just an inch.

"Aw, that was a close one. Not bad, kid."

"I'm not a kid! Ice make: Ice Blade, Seven Slice Dance!"

Ice crackled softly as two blades appeared, jutting from his both of his forearms before he launched himself forward, slicing mercilessly at the purple eyed enemy who watched in amusement.

"What neat little tricks!"

Leaping back, Jeice managed to block the first few swipes, however the last two caught him from the side, resulting in him being thrown back into a nearby house.

"Having trouble, ice block?" Natsu jeered, walking over to him.

"What do you want, ash for brains?"

"Nothing, snow cone. Erza just ordered me to come over and help you." His eyes narrowed at the reminder, "You know, she never asks us to do anything…"

Risking a glance away from the downed Jeice, Gray nodded his agreement,

"Yeah, She should ask us to do stuff instead of ordering us around all the time."

"Exactly! She can't just-..."

"Is it really wise to take your attention away from the enemy?"

Before the ice mage had the chance to so much as turn to the voice he found himself flying backwards, landing harshly on the ground a few feet from where he previously stood.

"Gray!" Natsu glanced over at his fallen friend before glaring angrily at the orange haired male who simpered back at him, his tan hand leisurely wiping a drip of blood from his split lip.

"So you're the almighty salamander, huh? Can't say I was expecting you to be part of the members called here."

The pinkette blinked at him, confused, "Expected? You mean you knew we were coming?"

" Oh, yo…."

"Ice make: eagles!"

The enemy's response was cut short as his attention swiftly flickered from the slayer to a white haired male. Instantly a grin came to his face as he avoided the attack, his gaze focused on the ice birds.

"Another ice mage?! So she was telling the truth after all!"

"You mean you doubted her?" Tremo sneered, managing to escape his battle with Erza and Lucy to instead come up to his comrade, "She's always right. She said this would happen and it did. While she didn't warn us that they would be so troublesome, her main facts were pretty spot on."

Both sets of purple eyes switched from the two ice mages, who now stood side by side, identical smiles appearing as they seemed to reach a silent agreement.

"I'll admit, we are outnumbered now, so we'll retreat. Come to the dark woods that surround this town if you want to complete your little mission," The green haired male drawled, "But don't expect to come out victorious. The golden lady has predicted everything up to this moment."

"Tell me, who is this golden lady?" Erza ordered, pointing her sword towards the two cloaked figures. "You two are going no where."

"She's the future ruler of the sky!" Jeice explained eagerly, his hands clapping together in awe, "She said two ice mages would come and they did! This is perfect! That means her last prediction would be right too!"

"What is this prediction?!" The scarlet haired women demanded, her patience wearing thin, "And what do ice mages have to do with anything?!"

"Oh, we've said too much already!" The taller of the two shrugged slamming his fists together, causing both him and his friend's appearances to began to fade, "But there is one thing I can say. The golden lady predicted the end of this era upon the gain of the final magic, the creator magic ice energy. From there…"

They both smiled at one another before fading away completely, one sentence drifting throughout the calm air as they disappeared.

"Death will be impending and you all will be the first victims!"

**Well, this didn't turn out quite how I wanted to because I had this all written out, but my computer decided to turn off and erase all of this chapter, so it's slightly shorter. Sorry. Anyway, the climax should be coming soon so it should progress interest wise ^.^ I also apologize for the fight scenes and Yuka's personality. I am not very good at writing action and am uncertain as to Yuka's character, so I just went with him as being a smart guy because I remember thinking of him as such during the Galuna arc. I wouldn't be surprised if I was wrong though.**


	7. Chapter 7: To love is to lose

**Warnings: Some fluff, Yaoi, cursing, OOC (maybe) and future violence. This was mainly written to add a bit of fluff in because I have been promising it for a few chapters but have yet to deliver it. So, here we are. It's not much, but it's starting~**

Gray twisted and turned in his bed, trying with all his might to fall asleep, to no avail. The day's events still weighted heavily on his mind, causing him to be unable to sleep regardless of the exhaustion that racked through his body. Instead the strange words of the enemies kept echoing in his mind. He searched endlessly for answers but ultimately ended up with even more questions to which he had no response. He groaned to himself and roughly ran pale hands through his raven hair, kicking the blankets lower on his naked chest as he gave up attempting to rest.

"Ugh, something wrong, snow cone? You're groaning is keeping me up."  
Gray rolled his eyes and sent a half hearted glare over at the fire mage laying beside him on the full bed, slightly surprised to find that he was not asleep. Then again, the room had been void of snoring.

"No, It's nothing, hot head."

He mentally cursed himself for not remembering that he and the fire dragon slayer were forced to share a room as well as a bed due to the lack of bedrooms within the relatively small house. Lucy, Erza and Sherry had taken one room while Lyon, Toby and Yuka took another, thus leaving the two rivals to begrudgedly share the last. Happy had decided to room with the girls, claiming that he didn't want to have to hear the two rivals fight the entire night, which was a rather good reason. They all were positively drained from the night's and morning's events.

But of course with their luck their room just had to be the one that was composed of a single queen bed and a desk. The walls were plain white as were the sheets, desk and, well, everything else in the room. Gray found it rather odd how the room was so barren with not a personal momento or even decoration in sight.

After agreeing to further discuss what occurred that day after some sleep they all dispersed to their own rooms, the quiet of night soon consuming the once noisy building.

Shifting in the bed, Natsu turned to stare at the ice mage's bare back, a curious look plastered on his face.

"It's about earlier, isn't it? Look, I know you're pissed that you ended up being the bait, but it worked out, didn't it?"

Sighing, the ice mage hesitantly turned to face the fire mage, startled to find him only inches away.

" Naw, that's not it. I didn't mind... _That_ much..."  
The fire wizard raised an eyebrow,

"Then what's wrong?"

"What does it matter to you, flame brain?"

"You don't have to be an ass about this, ice princess."

Gray sighed before running another hand through his hair, focusing on his gaze on the dark ceiling as he nodded slightly into the pillow,

"Yeah, I know, sorry," He mumbled under his breath, hating the idea of apologizing to the other but knew that it was in order. He was being short tempered with his rival for no reason at the moment, "It's just what they said. I don't understand whats going on."

"None of us do." The pinkette shrugged, placing his hands to rest behind his head as he too peered up at the roof, his thoughts wandering elsewhere as he found the urge to keep his gaze on the ice mage beside him. The raven looked too cute laying there, the faint moon light filtering through the open window and settling on his pale skin with a lovely glow. It took all his strength not to curl up beside the other and hold him close... Wait.. what...?

"Yeah, that's what's frustrating me..." He admitted, closing his eyes as he huffed softly and shook his head. He wasn't certain why, but for some reason he had a feeling of dread that just wouldn't leave him. He believed it to be because of the fact that the men seemed to know so much about why they were there. That so called golden lady could certainly prove to become more than they had initially bargained for, "They seem to be intent on finding an ice mage..." The last part was low, obviously only meant for the dark blue haired youth himself to hear.

However, Natsu's keen hearing tuned in to the soft sound, causing his face to contort into a uncharacteristic scowl,

"Is the little snow queen scared?" He mused, although his expression still didn't change in the slightest.

"Shut the hell up, Natsu. I'm not scared, you damn moron, just... curious..."

The dragon slayer bit the corner of his lip as he spared a glance at the ice mage, contemplating whether he should continue antagonizing the male. It was obvious that he was unsettled and the fire wizard himself didn't feel like mocking anymore. He only wanted to comfort his nervous friend.

"You know, I won't let them hurt you, Gray... I know they want an ice mage for something, but I won't let them take you..."

Cobalt eyes blinked as the owner of them turned to look at his secret best friend, using his elbows to elevate him as he stared in surprise at the man beside him. Did he really just say that...?

"Damn flame, I don't need protection. Not yours, not anyones! I can take care of myself!"

How dare he think that he needed to be protected! To be saved like some damn weakling! Like hell!

A low growl sounded from the slayer as he too sat up, glaring in annoyance at the raven, who returned the glare with the same amount of malice if not more.

"I never said you couldn't, you ungrateful snowflake. You just always insist on being alone all the time and it's damn stupid of you. You don't always have to be so distant. Fairy Tail is your family!"

"You think I don't know that, Natsu? Well I do!"

"Then start acting like it! Everyone needs help sometimes and everyone needs to be reassured so don't act like you are so damn high and mighty, cause you aren't! You need just as much companionship as anyone else."  
Silence drifted through the air as the creator magic mage stared wordlessly at his comrade; the darkness surrounding them seeming to only intensify as they stared into one another's eyes, both refusing to break the challenging look.

"Look, Natsu, things are easier when I'm alone." The raven's voice was a mere whisper as he finally gave in and tore his gaze from the other's, instead settling it on his blanket covered lap, "I don't expect you or anyone else to understand that, but it's for the best."

Gray bit the bottom of his lip as he lowered his head, his bangs shadowing his eyes as he clenched the sheets sitting crumpled in his lap. If he didn't allow anyone close to him, then he wouldn't have to worry about losing them. It was a simple concept, really. Sure he had friends that he really liked, but he refused to love again. After all, he had learned long ago that everyone he loved will die. Some people say that it is better to have loved and lost than to have never had loved at all, although he didn't agree with it at all. Everything was easier if just kept to himself. Everyone was safer that way as well...

"Gray... You're wrong..."

"I'm going to sleep, flamebrain. I suggest you do the same..."

He lowered himself back to his side, his back once more facing the dragon slayer as he closed his blue eyes. Yelling seemed to only tire his weary body out more, making it so this time he managed to fall asleep without much trouble. Soft breaths escaped him as he fell into the darkness, unaware of the eyes watching him carefully.

Natsu stared quietly at the ice mage's back, his teeth clenched as he felt the urge to destroy something build within him. Is that really what the raven thought? Is that why he always distanced himself from all the other guild members?  
Pink locks swayed as the slayer shook his head before inching closer to his crush and wrapping his arms around the pale chest before him. He knew that he would be the first to awaken in the morning, seeing as he was more of a morning person than the snow queen. After all, if he was caught he could always make up an excuse pertaining to their current position. Saying something along the sides of him thinking that Gray was a large piece of food due to a dream would no doubt be significant enough to shy away any suspicions.

Besides, who would actually believe that Natsu Dragneel was in love with Gray Fullbuster? Honestly not even the pinkette could believe that fact. It just seemed so... odd and impossible... But all his actions up to this moment led him to that mere conclusion. Why else would be feel so protective over him? Why he couldn't stand the thought of him being even the slightest bit upset? It was so clear that it almost hurt.

Nuzzling his face into the other's dark blue hair the fire mage decided to be greedy and kissed the pale ear before him, lightly cooing one last promise before falling into slumber along with his rival,

"You're never alone, Gray. Not when I'm here. I'll thaw your frozen heart and succeed where so many others have failed. Just watch me."

He would never allow anyone to hurt his beloved ice mage, especially not that so called golden lady.

* * *

_- Meanwhile somewhere deep within the evil woods-_

A figure stood before a large machine, her finger tapping against her chin in amusement as the scene between the fire and ice mages played within her mind.

"How very touching," She crackled, her blonde bangs lazily falling further across her pale face as she shook her head, " but virtually useless. You see, little salamander, you are a mere pawn in my plans. I need ice magic to carry out my goal and your little friend as well as the white haired boy are just what I need. I've predicted every one of your moves up until now, including the ones you are yet to make."

She clapped her hands together as a child like laugh echoed through the large building, her slim fingers drumming against the board before her.

"Yes... Just those two and my goal will be completed. After all these years they are finally strong enough for my purposes."

She glanced away from the looming complex machine before her, her vision instead training on two separate photos that she kept with her at all times.

One was of a beautiful black haired woman with a long red dress and a dazzling smile. Beside her was a tall male with blue hair. He was dressed in a black tux with a similar, heartwarming smile as the women. Last but certainly not least was a young boy, no older than 6, who sat in between his parents. His dark blue hair was messy and he wore an outfit similar to his father. Upon his face was a large, happy grin. Cobalt eyes shined with innocence and purity.

Beside that picture was another of a boy who appeared to be around 7. He was dressed in a black, striped coat as well as white long pants and a dark blue shirt. His hair was silver and his eyes were squinted and a black shade as he smiled up at a similar looking women, who returned the grin. Her hair was light blue and her eyes were a matching black color. It was no denying that they were indeed related.

"You know, it's been a while, boys. It seems you've grown into such handsome men since last we met." A white finger reached out to gently stroke the picture of the blue family before moving over to do the same of the photo of the white haired mother and son pair, "But now is when the fun can truly begin. Lyon and Gray... Let's play a game, shall we? How many more people will you lose before you finally give in to the fate decided for you before you two were even born? Tick tock, life is slowly fleeting and you are the ones to blame."

Turning her back to the pictures, the lady began to walk away from her lab, after all, her pawns were moving just as she wanted them to. The future was bright, especially for one who was able to see it and manipulate it.

"Before long I, the golden lady, will shine and there will be no one to stop me! That much I can guarantee!" She raised her black clothed arms once she reached the closed window on the other side of the room, a large, evil simper creeping onto her lips as she stared out at the forest, "I will purge this world of all who oppose me. Starting with your pesky little friends, ice makers. Prepare to experience true hell."

**Ohh who is this golden lady and what exactly is she planning? And what does it have to do with Lyon and Gray? Why am I asking these questions? Who knows!**

**Anywho~ I added a bit of fluff (If that's what you want to call it) into this story. Soon the fluffy moments will rise, but hey, at least they interacted ^.^ **

**Hope you all like it and thanks for reading~ Please review what you think and don't hesitate to ask any questions, however some may not be answered if the response would end up being a spoiler.**


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